Today’s technology seems to allow anyone who has access to a network and who can afford it to report what is going on in their own backyard or public square.

The most basic phone has a camera and it is simple to post images, video and text to social media sites. As a result, citizen journalists – ordinary people observing events in their local context – are everywhere.

In less than a decade, and unsurprisingly given the rapid proliferation of digital media platforms, citizen journalism has upset the applecart of traditional journalism. Yet, for all kinds of reasons, professional journalists are increasingly viewing citizen journalism as a means of supplementing sources, of getting closer to the ground, and of gaining crucial insights into complicated local situations.

Participants in a workshop on the ethics of social media called for guidelines in the use of social media and citizen journalism that can create greater transparency and credibility. Building a healthy alliance between professional journalists and citizen journalists is crucial to good governance and good citizenship.

On World Press Freedom Day 3 May 2012, WACC President Dr Dennis Smith and General Secretary Dr. Rev Karin Achtelstetter invite members and partners to work towards an international code of ethics for citizen journalism. WACC is celebrating the importance of press freedom and remembering journalists whose lives are threatened in the course of their profession.

The World Association for Christian Communication is registered in Canada as a not-for-profit corporation (438311-7) and an incorporated charitable organisation (number 83970 9524 RR0001) with its offices at 308 Main Street, Toronto ON, M4C 4X7. WACC is also a UK Registered Charity (number 296073) and a Company registered in England and Wales (number 2082273) with its Registered Office at 16 Tavistock Crescent, London W11 1AP, United Kingdom.